One is security. If you run your browsing and e-mail sessions in a VM, they are isolated from your core apps and data. This is the theory behind VMware Player. Theoretically you can say goodbye to most malware.

Also, you can run older and newer apps on the same machine -- they will just operate on different VMs.

All sounds great, eh? But here's the rub: If you want to turn your Windows 8 machine into multiple computers, you'll have to buy multiple operating systems.

I think Microsoft really has to come to grips with this. If we are running VMs because surfing is insecure or because older apps don't run natively on a new OS, shouldn't Microsoft take some responsibility? Cut us some slack!

What is your experience with virtualization licensing? It is as rough as I make it out to be? Educate me at dbarney@redmondmag.com.